Edible Christmas Gifts

Over the weekend I was invited to a birthday party and I wasn't sure what to get the birthday girl so I opted for a Edible Gift. Now with it been so close to Christmas you could also use these as gifts for unexpected guests, neighbours or even as a Secret Santa gift. Now this little project only took a couple of hours to do because I had to wait for my cookies to cool down but you could make them the night before and decorate them the following morning if you wanted to.

 

The best thing about this gift is you can make your their favourite cookie because you know they'll end up eating them. I went with a Shortbread biscuit because it was simple and I always have success with Shortbread. I also used a cookie cutter to get a star shape but you can simply save yourself time by forming cookies out of your dough. This is the recipe I used for my Shortbread.

 

 

Shortbread

Ingredients:

250g butter, softened

1 cup Castor sugar

1 cup cornflour

2 cups plain flour

 

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 150°C and grease a baking tray.

2. Cream butter and sugar until its light, fluffy and it looks white.

3. Sift cornflour and flour together. Mix on a slow speed until your mixture forms a ball.

4. On a lightly floured surface knead well and roll out to a thickness of about 0.5cm.

5. Using your cookie cutter, cut out your shapes or just cut into pieces.

6. Place on your greased tray and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Leave on the baking tray to harden slightly once they have come out of the oven, then place on a wire cooling rack.

 

Now with this simple recipe I was able to present three in three different ways, thus making them ideal for gift giving. I could use the as Christmas Presents, Birthday Presents or as a House warming present. You are only limited by your imagination. So with this in mind here is what I came up with.

 

 

Now because I wanted to give these as a birthday gift I decided to dress them up a little to make them prettier. If I was giving these as Christmas gifts I would have crushed a few candy cane and sprinkled them over the top of the chocolate just to add a bit of colour. Once decorated I placed each biscuit into a small clear cake bag however, next time I would put them on a pretty plate to give out. The plate would also be included in the gift.

 

 

On the day of the birthday party my father was there so I also gave him some Shortbread as a house warming present. This way he would have something sweet and nice to eat while having a cup of tea after spending hours unpacking boxes. Next time I have to find a house warming gift I'm going to package up some yummy cookies, tea and coffee so that the new home owners will have a nice treat at the end of a long day unpacking.

 

 

So what do you think are edible gifts a good idea or do you like to give personal gifts? I'm happy with these as I know that both the birthday girl and my father will enjoy eating the cookies and I've saved them from having to find a place for their gifts.

 

Megan